COURIER SERVICES

Couriers and appropriate packaging can allow you to sell your produce to markets further afield. Determining the best courier services for your products will take time. There are many variables that affect the price of the service: location, the weight and size of the produce, how fast the delivery needs to be, whether you’re operating at a scale or part of a group that can negotiate prices, and so forth. You may also want to ensure the courier company has a good reputation and/or relevant ‘green’ credentials. Comparison websites such as parcelmonkey.co.uk, parcelhero or parcel2go.com allow you to compare prices to send a single package with some of the larger couriers and postal services. But there are companies that aren’t included in the comparison websites that will give you a better price if you’re committed to sending multiple packages with them and prepared to set up a business account. Trust Pilot provides service ratings for the different courier services: https://uk.trustpilot.com/categories/parcelservice

Producers sending highly perishable products such as frozen meat and unpasteurised milk use insulated packaging with overnight courier services such as Parcel Force AM and APC-Overnight. Producers who are in a position to deliver locally within built up areas such as Edinburgh, Brighton and London, can consider bike couriers including Zedify. Zedify is also unique in providing a nation-wide zero-emission courier service.

Most couriers won’t insure perishable products but are prepared to deliver them. Alternatively, there are couriers that provide temperature controlled delivery, but these are considerably more expensive.